Over the next two years improvements were made to the spare,[4] and the satellite was incorporated into the FASTSAT mission.

[5] Orbital Sciences Corporation conducted the launch under a contract with the United States Air Force.

NanoSail-D2 was expected to separate from FASTSAT on 6 December 2010, but the bay door did not open, preventing its ejection.

[8] While battery power was soon exhausted, as predicted by the principal investigator, Dean Alhorn,[9] the spacecraft was expected to sail on in low-Earth orbit for 70 to 120 days, depending on atmospheric conditions, before it burnt up, and to become easier to view after the atmosphere stabilized its tumbling.

[11] On 17 September 2011, the solar sail re-entered the atmosphere after 240 days in orbit, though this was only announced on 29 November 2011.